Most Title IX conversations focus on students. A case the Supreme Court just agreed to hear is a great reminder that the law has never only been about students, and its application to employees has been less settled than many districts and institutions realize.

Background

On May 18, the Supreme Court accepted Thomas Crowther v. Board of Regents of University System of Georgia for its October 2026 term. The case consolidates the claims of two University System of Georgia employees: a women’s basketball coach at Georgia Tech who alleged she was terminated after raising concerns about unequal resources between the men’s and women’s programs, and an art professor at Augusta University who alleged he was treated differently based on sex during an internal Title IX investigation that ultimately led to his dismissal. Both brought claims under Title IX.

The case reached the Supreme Court because federal appeals courts are genuinely split on whether employees can bring these claims at all. In November 2024, the Eleventh Circuit ruled in Joseph v. Board of Regents that Title IX does not give employees a private right to sue for sex discrimination The court’s reasoning was that Congress built Title VII as the comprehensive framework for workplace discrimination, and found no clear congressional intent to extend Title IX’s reach to employment claims. That put the Eleventh Circuit alongside the Fifth and Seventh Circuits, which had already reached the same conclusion. But eight other circuits, including the First, Third, Fourth, Sixth, and Ninth, have held the opposite, recognizing that employees can bring Title IX claims. The Supreme Court will now resolve this divide.

What the Court Will Decide

The question is straightforward: can an employee of a federally funded school, district, or institution file a private lawsuit under Title IX if they believe they were subjected to sex-based discrimination? For most of the country, the answer has been yes for decades.

It is worth keeping in mind where the Supreme Court itself has already landed. In its 2005 decision in Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education, the Court held that Title IX covers retaliation against someone who reports sex discrimination. The plaintiff in that case was a public school coach who had complained that his girls’ basketball team was not receiving equal resources. Now, Crowther asks the Court to clarify whether Title IX’s protections extend to employment discrimination claims more broadly, and not just in retaliation.

Why This Matters for K-12 Districts and Higher Education Institutions

The case originated in higher education, but the legal question cuts across every type of federally funded institution. K-12 districts, community colleges, four-year universities, and graduate programs all operate under the same Title IX framework. What the Court decides will set the rule for all of them.

Here is what both possible outcomes mean for districts and institutions:

• If the Court confirms that employees can bring Title IX claims, nothing formally changes for most districts and institutions. But a compliance program that has not been treating employee complaints with full rigor will have run out of runway to fix that quietly.
• If the Court sides with the Eleventh Circuit and holds that employees have no private right of action under Title IX, districts and institutions should be careful about reading that as permission to pull back. Closing the courthouse door to private employee lawsuits does not touch the regulatory requirement to respond to employee complaints. Title IX regulations require grievance processes that cover employees, including investigations for complaints when they are raised and appropriate responses. OCR can still investigate. Federal funding can still be at risk. The administrative accountability structure stays fully intact regardless of what the Court decides about private lawsuits.

Either way, the answer for compliance teams is the same: your Title IX program should already be built to cover employees fully. If it is not, that gap needs to close before the Court issues its decision.

Tuesday Takeaways

The Court has not yet ruled. But the question it has agreed to answer is one you should be able to answer right now: Can your employees bring a Title IX claim against your school, district, or institution? That means knowing what your processes look like, whether they actually work, and whether those responsible for running them are ready for the full scope of what Title IX requires.

ICS works with K-12 districts and higher education institutions on exactly these questions. We support compliance teams as they build Title IX programs that address the complete picture, not just the compliance scenarios that feel most familiar.

If you want to assess where your district or institution stands before this decision comes down, connect with our team.